Isha sat down in the sitting room of the Emperor's private chambers, where they had discussed Horus and the Navigators, frustration and guilt simmering in her chest.
You fool, what did you think would happen if you asked the Emperor about his origin? She silently berated herself. It had been an undeniable misstep on her part, a result of letting her curiosity overcome her better judgement.
It wasn't as if she would respond well to anyone asking her about the Old Ones 'uplifting' her, Isha mused bitterly. Why would the Emperor react differently?
The memories of her rebirth still haunted her. What the Old Ones had done...it had all seemed so utterly inconceivable in the days before the War in Heaven. The Aethyr as her children had named it in their language at the time, had been a much different place then, even further from the way it had been when her children's folly had empowered Chaos.
At the time, no gods had ruled Immaterium. They had existed, to be certain, many of them, though they were all dead now. But the Old Ones had been the masters of the Sea of Souls, their supremacy unchallenged, and even the gods dared not encroach on the vast and gleaming thought-palaces that were the domain of the Old Ones, nor to defy their edicts, few as they were. Some had tried, but any god who had ever been so foolish had been ensnared by the defenses of the Old Ones, gods the size of star systems trapped within vicious ethereal snares.
Some, the Old Ones would let go. Others were taken as test subjects, to be studied and toyed with as the Old Ones pleased, perhaps even used as power sources.
In those days, Isha had never dared to test herself against the Old Ones. To challenge them was folly for the mightiest of divine spirits, and Isha had not been one of those, even as her children rose to the stars. There had been older races and greater gods then, but none as old and great as the masters of the galaxy. If they did not dare, then how could she and her family hope to do so? Khaine had considered it once or twice, but even he had known better.
And then, the War in Heaven had come. The Yngir and their soulless slaves had torn across the galaxy, devouring souls, drowning the stars in blood and sending the Sea of Souls into turmoil.
Isha had still not gone to the thought-palaces willingly, in the end, but she had been taken. The Old Ones had grown desperate, had desired weapons and seen potential in her family and children.
She had been caged, her domain chained, the concepts that made up the very core of her being bound as if it were mere flesh and blood rather than the essence of divinity. There were no words in mortal languages to describe what the Old Ones had done to her. Isha could say they had cast her into fire to be reborn, that they had reshaped her as if she was a sculpture, that they had not touched her at all but cast her into a void where she fell for an eternity until she became what the Old One wanted her to be on her own.
All of it was true. None of it could convey what had actually happened, because no mortal mind could even conceive of it.
If the Emperor's creation had been anything like that, it was no wonder he was tight-lipped on the matter. She was still not sure of his exact origins, only that an Old One had a hand in it. He might have been a mortal raised to divinity, or one of humanity's oldest gods reforged into a weapon as she had been...it was hard to say. But she doubted the process had been pleasant.
Isha would have to apologize again, and see if she couldn't still find some way to convince him to let her heal Cthonia. She did not think he would let her heal the whole planet, but there were things she could do to make it better. Clearing away the pollution and growing a forest or two would be a good start.
But first, she needed to compose a proper argument in support of her wish.
For the next half a day, Isha stayed within the chambers, doing little but meditating and ignoring the hungry gazes of the infinite storm of daemons in the Immaterium, until she finally felt the Emperor's presence approaching the chambers, and stood, waiting for him.
A few moments later, the door swung open and Anathema walked in, his expression pensieve. To Isha's relief, he did not seem angry or even annoyed. His aura was calm, pleased even and his expression thoughtful.
"Your Majesty," She said, bowing.
"Isha," The Emperor greeted.
"I once more apologize for my earlier misstep," Isha said carefully. "It was foolish of me not to consider how sensitive a subject it would be for you, and I should not have overstepped my bounds by doing so. It will not happen again, I assure you"
The Emperor's eyebrows rose slightly, but he did not reject her words. "Apology accepted," He said after a moment's silence. "But now, it is time for us to go down to Cthonia's surface."
"Again?" Isha said, surprised as she followed him out of the room. "Is there something else to deal with on the planet?"
"The most powerful faction on Cthonia is an expedition sent by the Mechanicum to scavenge for lost technology," The Emperor explained as he strode through the gilded hallways. "Horus stole several things from them, which I intend to return, and I also wish to soothe any anger they may feel. This may only be an expedition, far removed from their masters on Mars, but they are still the greatest power on this planet, and may have found valuable relics among the ruins. Horus has some affection for this world as well. Cthonia will be part of the Imperium one day, directly under Horus's purview if he wishes it, and it would not do to have the Mechanicum opposed to us when we return."
Isha nodded in understanding. "I see," She hesitated for a moment before plunging ahead. "On the subject of Cthonia, I was actually hoping you would permit me to do something about the planet's condition."
"Oh?" The Emperor said, pausing in his stride and turning to face her, forcing Isha to stop as well. "And why do you wish to do that?"
"The planet deserves to be healed, and the people on it deserve to live in better conditions. I am not asking that you allow me to terraform the entire world and restore it to its prime, merely that I be allowed to at least make some improvements, such as cleansing the atmosphere and crafting some animal and plant life. It would also be beneficial to your plans. Cthonia as it stands is a ruin, and would be of little use to your empire. I can make it more valuable and liveable in time."
Isha waited after finishing her talk, a little anxiously. If this was a few days ago, she was almost certain the Emperor would have agreed, but after her misstep about his origins, after her near loss of control on the trip to Cthonia...
The Emperor was silent for several long moments before he spoke. "Very well. You may clear the pollution from the planet, and grow a forest in a location of my choosing. I will perform a full analysis, however, and destroy it if I so choose."
Isha bowed her head, relieved. "Of course. Thank you."
"It will be after I have negotiated with the Mechanicum, however," The Emperor replied, resuming his walk. "I will need to inform them and make sure they do not react...aggressively to such a thing."
"I understand," Isha replied. She was aware any forest she grew would likely be a target for any faction on the planet, and the Mechanicum, from what she knew of them, would study it at the very least, but given the only other choice was to leave Cthonia in its current state...well, that was hardly a choice at all.
"Good," The Emperor said, just as they arrived at the hangar bay.
They entered the bay, and this time, they were greeted by the sight of the Emperor's soldiers arrayed in military formation on both sides of the bay in anticipation of his arrival. First, there were the Custodes, who were so silent and still that they might as well have been golden statues, standing on the right side. Opposite them on the left side were the mortal soldiers, dressed in neat black and gold uniforms, and next to them were a squadron of Space Marines in white armour, clearly the Star Hunter scouts who had found Cthonia in the first place.
And at the end of the bay, Isha could see a ship that had clearly been prepared for take-off, one significantly larger than the one they had used before, easily the size of most of the human houses in the Emperor's capital. It was also even more golden and gilded than the last one, with the symbol of an eagle clutching a lightning bolt painted on the side, and bristling with stronger armor and more weapons. This was a warship meant to impress and intimidate, not a vessel built for speed first and foremost.
And more potent than any of the ship's physical defenses were the wards the Emperor had woven around it, invisible to anyone without the ability to wield magic, but still providing far greater protection than the ship's armor.
Horus was nowhere to be seen, Isha noted. No doubt at least one reason that the Emperor was taking her down to the planet again was to keep her away from the boy.
Shield-Captain Juno stepped forward, and saluted. "Your Majesty, the ship is ready. We will depart at your command."
The Emperor smiled faintly. "Good. Then, let us go."
The plan, as the Emperor had outlined it, was fairly simple. He had already deployed a few Custodians to the surface who had negotiated a time and place for a meeting with the Mechanicum. The Emperor would go to meet them and return everything Horus had stolen, then soothe any ruffled feathers.
All very straightforward.
Isha herself, of course, would not be attending the meeting. She would be staying under the watch of the Custodians, with both the ship's wards and the bracelets the Emperor had given her a few years ago to keep her power contained.
But Isha was curious. She had yet to meet any humans who were not under the Emperor's banner, the brief glimpse of Horus and his mortal friends aside. What were these tech-priests like? How did they differ from ordinary humans? She had learned something of what the Mechanicum was like during her time on Terra, but that wasn't the same thing as actually laying eyes on them.
And thus, she had persuaded the Emperor to let her observe the meeting from a distance. It had been easier than she had expected, and Isha got the distinct impression he had been slightly amused by her request, but he had seen no harm in it and acquiesced.
So here she was, sitting on the ship's lowered ramp but still within its wards and surrounded by Custodians as she enhanced her senses to observe the Emperor's meeting with the Tech-Priests.
The ship had landed atop a large building, which was not very tall but had a large, wide roof which could comfortably accommodate the vessel. It was roughly half a human mile away from the actual meeting place, which was at the edge of the Mechanicum's territory.
The Mechanicum's fortress certainly stood out among the rest of Chthonia, Isha had to admit as her enhanced eyes swept across it. It had obviously been one of Cthonia's hive cities once, but the Mechanicum had their mark. Their symbol, the half-human and half-machine skull was everywhere. The fortress was also in far better condition than anything she had seen on Cthonia so far, a hub of machinery and industry, with heat and energy flowing through the entire fortress and releasing smoke into the air through shafts carved into the roofs.
There were Tech-Priests and various other humans milling through the fortress. There were also a number of machines, some with simple souls akin to animals, others more complex and intelligent, as much as humans, if still dedicated to their tasks.
But the Tech-Priests and the acolytes made up only a minority of the fortress's population. The majority were the workers. They were menial workers, purely human, working in terrible conditions, Isha noted with a frown.
But there were also others, soldiers and servants alike, who were biological but deeply enhanced with cybernetics. There was something wrong with them, Isha realized as she scanned the fortress. They were some combination of flesh and steel, which was to be expected given what she knew of the Mechanicum, but that wasn't it. The Tech-Priests were also more machine than human, and they didn't give off the fundamental feeling of wrongness that the workers did. There was something about the way they moved that was too rigid, something about their souls…
Frowning, Isha focused harder, doing her best to ignore the weight of the wards and the bracelets. It had been easier on the previous trip to Cthonia, but the ward the Emperor had constructed around that ship then had been weaker, constructed in haste before he departed to meet his son. These ones were stronger and denser.
Even so, it only took Isha a few moments to get a proper look, both in the Materium and Immaterium, at the workers.
And what she saw was horrifying.
A number of the workers were merely soulless clones, a combination of flesh and steel whose genetic code indicated they had been grown within a vat, who lacked any true spirit, could hardly be considered alive at all. It was disgusting, but the worst part was the rest of them.
There were more clones, but these ones had been permitted some degree of higher thought, but were still chained by both simple indoctrination and the machines that had been fused to them since before they were even born.
And worst of all, there were those had been normal humans once, who had been mutilated and tortured and converted into abominations, their souls still trapped within their human bodies, suffering from eternal agony. Their minds and souls writhed in pain and sorrow, crippled and enslaved, in desperate need of mercy and release, but unable to do anything but scream within their own minds.
It was an abomination. It was worse than what the Emperor had done to his Custodians. It made her angry, and Isha's first instinct was to rise from where she was sitting, sweep the Custodians aside, free all those lost souls and raise a forest that would rip the fortress asunder from the inside. And not only the fortress, but also its cruel masters, to make them scream as their bodies transformed and turned against them, leaving their souls trapped within the trees their bodies had become to make them suffer in the same way they had inflicted on others-
But the blazing presence of the Emperor was a warning to do nothing of that sort. Isha forcibly tamped down on her temper and her power before it became noticeable to the Custodians. She had to force herself to remain where she was and wait obediently for him to finish his negotiations, no matter how much it burned.
Isha had done far worse things and made more bitter compromises throughout her existence, but that did not mean this did not sting. The Emperor did not need this one fortress of slavers, surely? Perhaps he needed Mars, but not this place. It would do no harm to his plans to tear it down and free those poor people.
But the Emperor had gone to appease them instead, in full knowledge of what they were doing. And he knew. How could he not?
A small part of her was disappointed, but Isha ruthlessly squashed it. He is not my friend, she reminded herself coldly. Remember Asuryan. The Emperor is the same. He is stronger than I, his help is needed…but he is not a friend, and his domains and nature do not align with mine.
Taking a deep breath, Isha turned her gaze back to the Emperor. She had been distracted for longer than she had realized, for she had missed the beginning of the meeting, and he had been talking with the Mechanicum's representatives for some time.
The Tech-Priest who had come out to speak to the Emperor was almost completely inhuman, with only the barest trace of his organic body left. Instead of legs, he had a mass of tentacles, limbs which made him as tall as a Custodes, though still shorter than the Emperor. He was surrounded by guards, some of them were those enslaved souls, but others were pure machines, bearing some slight resemblance to the pscyhomatons of her children. They numbered more than a hundred total, far greater than the number of Custodes the Emperor had taken, but it hardly mattered. Each of them was overwhelmed by the Emperor's power, staring at him in awe, and their leader was no exception.
"Thank you for the return of our stolen artifacts." The Tech-Priest was saying, his head bowed. "Here on Cthonia, we must maintain everything we can."
The Emperor himself was smiling as he responded. Or rather, he was projecting the image of himself smiling. Isha could see the slightly bored expression on his actual face, concealed by his aura, as he spoke. "I am happy to have helped. I hope you will forgive my son's transgressions, he is a child and meant no harm. I hope the fresh technology and information I included in the cache will serve as compensation."
Isha did not know how the Tech-Priest's mind perceived the Emperor's sentence through his own perceptions, and she suspected peering into his mind would only make her angrier, but he seemed happy enough."Of course," The Tech Priest agreed quickly. "The knowledge you have given us…I have only begun to process it, but it is extraordinary. We are honoured by your gift. And we would be glad to host you and learn from you, if you wish to stay."
No doubt he'd feel less honored if not for the Emperor's aura, Isha thought disdainfully. Perhaps he'd want Horus or his friends to be turned into servitors as punishment.
The Emperor shook his head gently. "I am flattered by the offer, but I am afraid I must return to Terra to tend to my affairs. But I will return here one day, and I hope that when I do, we can form a mutually beneficial alliance."
"Of course, my lord," The Tech-Priest agreed in an almost reverent tone. "We will wait for you."
"Until then," The Emperor said, inclining his head.
They exchanged a few more parting pleasantries before the Emperor and his escort began making their ways back to the ship.
Isha did her best to calm herself, altering her body chemicals as necessary. Losing her temper would accomplish nothing, especially after she had already tested the Emperor's patience with her previous behaviour on this trip.
But someday, she would have the power to rival the Emperor once more, and she would no longer have to suffer such indignities and tolerate such atrocities. It was a long time away, but it would come, she promised herself.
Finally, the Emperor returned to the ship, looking pleased with himself.
"Isha," He greeted. "We need only make a short flight now, and then you can begin the cleansing of Cthonia's atmosphere."
Isha nodded, not trusting herself to speak as they re-entered the large, plush interior of the ship, the ramp rising behind them to seal the ship shut. It was not quite as well decorated as the Epona, but it was spacious enough to hold dozens of people and barely be half filled, the walls were gleaming with the Emperor's symbol, an eagle clutching a lightning bolt, emblazoned on them in black.
As the Emperor had said, it was a short flight. The ship was fast, and soon they were in Cthonia's western hemisphere, far from the Mechanicum's fortress. As they flew, the number of humans below them grew smaller and smaller until they had a region where the only life was insects.
The Emperor gestured to one of the Custodians. "Tell the pilot to stop here." He ordered. The Custodian departed for the cockpit instantly, as the Emperor turned to face Isha.
"There is no need for the ship to land, I think," He said. "You can do what you need to do from the air, I believe."
"I can," Isha agreed, doing her best to maintain her civil demeanour. "It would be no trouble at all. But…may I remove the bracelets?
The Emperor paused for a moment, visibly weighing his options, before he spoke. "Very well."
Isha raised her wrists, and he unlocked them with a thought, the bracelets hovering over to him. But even as she enjoyed the feeling of being unrestrained, Isha suspected that this was being allowed primarily because Cthonia was more expendable than Terra, and the Emperor wanted to see more of what she was capable of.
The ramp was lowered once more, and Isha descended to stand on the edge, the Emperor behind her.
Below her was another hive, but this was one more damaged than the ones she had seen before. It was in complete ruins, simply a massive mountain of metal and stone that had collapsed in on itself, stretching far into the distance, and left essentially no space where any human could live.
"What size would you like the forest to be?" Isha asked without turning around as she gathered her power. Energy hummed under her skin, eager to escape and be used on a large scale, to be less constrained for even a short time.
The Emperor hummed behind her thoughtfully. "It should cover a ten mile radius, nothing more, nothing less."
Isha nodded. Raising her hands, she reached into Cthonia's atmosphere, her power spreading through the sky and clouds. Once her grip was firm, she began.
Across Cthonia, people startled as storms erupted on the planet for the first time in centuries. But these were no ordinary storms. Imbued with Isha's power, these released cleansing showers of water that purified the air and left it cleaner than it had been in millennia.
Never staying in one place for too long, the storms and clouds danced through Cthonia's skies, moving at speeds impossible for any natural weather phenomenon as they cut through the pollution and gray skies, steadily absorbing and transmuting toxic chemicals and pollutants.
The process continued for hours, the storms sweeping across Cthonia in harmony like puppets on a string, healing the world as best as they could, until, at last, the skies were a clear blue and golden sunlight was visible on the planet for the first time in centuries.
The people were baffled, torn between wonder and fear, but as the days passed and nothing happened, the air simply remaining clean and pure, they slowly adjusted. Many wondered if this was a blessing by the gods, if it was the use of some mysterious technology by the Mechanicum, or something else entirely. The Tech-Priests themselves said nothing to the outsiders, but were as shocked as anyone, though many of them proposed this was the work of the Terran Emperor.
No answers were to be found, but most were grateful for the new state of the world.
Eventually, some of the more adventurous Cthonians, in their travels across the planet, were surprised to find a massive forest where once had been a hive city so utterly ruined during the Old Night that it had been impossible to live in for anyone. Filled with all sorts of exotic animals and plants that no one had seen before, many greedy warlords sought to claim it as their territory, but the forest was hardy and dangerous, and all attempts at claiming it in the following years failed. Even the Tech-Priests, when they tried to build a base there, failed miserably.
The forest developed something of a dark reputation, and it was declared that it would never be conquered. It was some dark work by aliens or even demons, many claimed.
But life went on, and eventually, the forest was accepted as simply a mystery that would never be solved or conquered.
However, some people, who went to the forest simply out of curiosity and a sense of adventure, found it more hospitable than many claimed. Still dangerous, of course, as any jungle with wild animals, but not entirely hostile to human life.
A few of them speculated the forest was simply protecting itself, though how and why it had come to be, still no one could say…
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, but here's the end of the Cthonia Arc at last.
I also have to announce that this story will be going on hiatus for a while as I retool and expand my outline and notes. I've realized some serious flaws in my writing methods, and I need time to correct them. This story is not abandoned, but don't expect updates for a while.
EDIT: Sorry, but I had accidentally replaced chapter 29 with chapter 30 instead of uploading this chapter properly. Things have been corrected now.